To Have a Heart
by puffpygmy
Summary: Little Harry has lost his puppy and is heartbroken. Who else would find him cuddled up with it in a deserted corridor in the middle of the night than one Severus Snape?
1. Someone To Help

**Hey, there! Again, if you clicked on this you're just plain awesome. I'm still working on my other story, I just decided to start this one out of the blue due to what happened today. Rudy, one of my two beloved rabbits died this morning, and I unknowingly was watching him during the point at which he actually passed away. This has been really hard for me, but writing this story (and reading "The Velveteen Rabbit" again), has helped a lot. When I wrote the death of the puppy, I completely unintentionally described it exactly as I saw my little Rudy pass. :( Also, the name of the puppy is the result of me reminiscing on my past pets; "Balto" was the name of one of my first cats. **

**This is set around the time before-ish Christmas of Harry's first year. **

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Little Harry started in shock at the sight before his eyes. The small, brown puppy writhed in pain once more letting out one last labored breath, its side ceasing to rise. Harry felt his throat grow tight and eyes begin to water.

"Balto?" he whispered tentatively, gently petting the pup's lifeless head. Garnering no response, Harry anxiously began stroking they puppy's whole body, his tears beginning to flow freely. "Balto please, wake up! You've got to wake up, now!" he cried, protectively leaning over the pup. "Don't worry, boy, I'll find someone to help you," the young Gryffindor whimpered, tenderly picking up the small, furry body.

As Harry frantically ran through the dark corridors, the rational side of his mind knew he had a slim chance of finding a teacher to help him at this hour of the night. Yet, he just couldn't give up hope for his small friend. Openly crying all the way, Harry ran and ran through corridor after corridor, till at last, exhausted, he stopped and sat down right in the middle of the darkness, clinging to and sobbing over his lost companion.

Sobs were continuing to wrack the small boy's body when a light suddenly shone on him from above. Harry immediately recognized the sneering voice which came from behind the light that he now saw was issuing from the tip of a black wand.

"Fancy finding you out here, Potter," Snape sneered, reaching down and pulling Harry up by the top of his robes, which the boy had hurriedly situated to drape over the bundle in his arms. Despite the harsh tug, Harry couldn't bring himself to look up at the Potions Master, or stop crying. "Don't think you can pull one over on me with that worthless sniveling. If you're bold enough to step out of your tower, walk to the other side of the castle and sit right in the middle of the floor like a complete nitwit, then you can certainly face the consequences," Snape bit out, tugging again on the boy's robes to start walking.

"I will not be taking you to Professor McGonagall tonight, where you will most certainly be let off with no more than a slap on the wrist. No, Potter, we are going to my office this time," Snape finished, pulling Harry along at a brisk pace.

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Through all Snape's fury, Harry's head remained downcast and tears remained streaming down his face, hiccoughs catching in his throat. While they were walking, he could do nothing but focus on not tripping and dropping what was carefully laid in his arms, the sound of the Potions Master's boots clicking on the stone floor resonating through the empty corridors.

As they stepped into the professor's drafty office in the dungeons, Snape swished his wand over the lamps on the wall which flickered on, and finally the fireplace, which roared to life and gave the dank room a nice, toasty feel. The Potions Master steered Harry over to a chair facing his desk, sat him down in it, and was about to turn away when his eye caught sight of a rather large lump beneath the still weeping boy's robes, which he seemed to be cradling against his chest.

"And exactly what, pray I ask, are you sorely attempting to hide under your robes, Potter?" Snape questioned, raising a disdainful eyebrow. Without much provocation, Harry began to sob hysterically once again; seemingly unaware that he was doing so in front of his hated potions professor.

Harry just couldn't hold it in anymore; even though Snape's words were not necessarily _that _cutting, per se, it still felt like he was sprinkling salt on a fresh wound.

"Potter, open up your cloak," Snape sniped. When the boy still refused to do so, Severus stalked to the chair, spun it around to face himself, and, muttering, "For the love of Merlin," unfastened Harry's cloak. To his surprise, he saw before his eyes a small, brown dog which appeared to be, upon closer inspection, dead.

At the revelation of his 'secret', Harry clutched the puppy even closer to his chest, his tears wetting its brown fur. He watched as Snape stepped back a bit to think; he couldn't ever image Snape as being one whose realm of expertise included sobbing first years clasping dead puppies.

Severus stepped towards Harry again, a pensive look on his face. "Would you care to inform me of what exactly is going on here, Potter?" he drawled, looking pointedly at the puppy. "Yes, Mr. Potter?" he prodded, when Harry had yet to respond.

Harry took a deep, shaky breath. "It's Balto, Professor," he paused to take another breath. "He…well, you see…we were walking and this"-sniff-"_snake _just came from out of nowhere and bit him," Harry whimpered, then continued on, fresh tears coming to his eyes, "Then he just started w-writhing around, a-and he was h-hurting so much, but I didn't know what to do! It's all my f-fault!" he finished, burying his face in the now-cool fur again and quietly sobbing.

Snape stood staring at the sight, still not quite knowing what to do. "Potter, you do realize there was no way you could have known what to do," he said, in about as gentle a voice as Harry had ever heard him use. Severus cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"P-professor," Harry began meekly, "There's not any potion you could give him to, you know- I mean…" he managed to choke out, before Snape cut him off. "You must be aware, Mr. Potter, that there is no potion, or spell, for that matter, that can resurrect the dead, be it human or animal," Snape replied sternly.

"I know, professor, but…" Harry began again miserably, unable to finish. Snape sighed. He didn't want another fresh bout of tears; he might as well attempt to mollify the child a bit. "Give me dog, Potter," Snape commanded. Harry looked at him reproachfully, causing the Potions Master to sigh. "I just want to see him Potter. No harm will be done." Harry, reluctantly, carefully handed the pup over to his professor.

Snape gently took the dog and walked over to a taller table where he laid him down, the whole while shadowed by the small Gryffindor's protective eye. He waved his wand over the small form, then physically checked it with his hands. Harry stood right beside him (an anomaly which Severus thought was quite bizarre), and reached out to stroke the pup after Snape had been still for a few moments.

When Severus looked down at Harry he saw, for a fleeting moment, not the arrogant, self-centered, idiotic spawn of James Potter; he saw, for just that moment an incredibly heartbroken, teary-eyed little boy, stroking his beloved departed puppy.

Snape quickly shook those thoughts from his head, blaming them on the lateness of the hour, yet surprised himself when he put a tentative hand on the small boy's shoulder. "This animal isn't coming back, Potter. He's long gone," Severus said. Harry smashed his eyes shut, causing a few stray tears to leak out the corners, took a deep, hitched breath, then gave a quick nod of his head.

"Why don't we sit down and discuss more of what happened tonight," Snape suggested, gently leading Harry back to the chair in front of his desk, then going back and placing a cloth over the puppy.

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**Wowzers, how's that for drama? I'm not sure if I want to add more to this story, since right now it's kinda written as one-shot. But anyway, if just one person wants to read what happens next, I'll gladly write some more chapters. :) Thanks for reading!**

**Please R&R!**


	2. A Talk

**First off, thank you SO much for all the amazing reviews! And thank you to all following this story! It's so encouraging to get them. :) My 17****th**** birthday was yesterday, and I got "Harry Potter: Film Wizardry" and "Harry Potter: Page to Screen"….I am in love. They replenished my head brain with bunches of ideas for this story. Therefore, I'm just itching to get this next chapter out to you guys! Enjoy.**

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"So, Mr. Potter," began Severus as he lowered himself into the chair opposite Harry, "What exactly happened tonight?" The young boy in question simply lifted his head and looked up at him with tired looking eyes. He opened his mouth, then closed it several times, seemingly searching for where to begin.

"We're in no rush, Potter, take your time," the Potions Master said gently, attempting to make the boy feel more at ease. Though, when a couple minutes had gone by and the young Gryffindor had yet to make a peep, Severus decided to use a different tactic.

"Po- Harry, why don't you start off by telling me how you acquired this animal in the first place," Snape suggested. Across the desk Harry nodded his head, then spoke.

"Well, I was at one of my first quidditch practices a couple months ago, and I was on my way back to the castle when I heard a weird sound coming from a bush or something. So I got my wand out just in case, looked behind the leaves and found a puppy," Harry smiled a bit at the memory. "He looked really skinny and scared, so I decided to take him back with me. I mean, I couldn't just leave him there…it was so cold and he was so little…" he trailed off into silence for a moment before continuing.

"I wrapped him up under my robes so no one could see him, but I had to wait until the rest of the team was in and had gone to dinner before I could take him inside. When I finally did take him in, I realized I didn't have any place to keep him, so I had to think about that for a bit. But then I remembered an unused classroom I pass all the time, so decided to keep him in there. I got some spare blankets and pillows from the Tower so he could have a little bed. After that I'd just bring down some extra food from the Great Hall each night so he could eat. I spent all my free time with him- between classes, after meals, studying, before bed…he was my best friend."

When Harry stopped talking, Snape resumed his interrogation. "Please enlighten me as to why exactly you didn't see fit to tell anyone about your small companion?" Severus was a bit surprised when a small streak of defiance seemed to streak across the boy's face. "Because I knew whoever I told would try to take him from me," -his head lowered again- "I knew otherwise I wouldn't be able to keep him."

Severus decided to leave it at that for the moment. "Was it habit to go traipsing together through the castle at midnight such as when I ran across you earlier?" he questioned. Harry began shaking his head, then apparently changed his mind and nodded it, slowly looking back up at the Potions Master. Snape raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "And why, might I ask?"

Harry's mind raced, trying to come up with an answer that would satisfy his professor. He couldn't tell him the real reason; he just couldn't. The man would mock him for the rest of his school years. "I just haven't been able to go to sleep easily, sir. When I couldn't go to sleep I just figured I'd go spend some time with Balto," he replied, hoping the Potions Master would just leave it at that.

"Just why, exactly, can't you sleep, Potter?" Snape asked curiously. Harry fidgeted in his chair. "No reason, I j-just…-" Snape cut him off. "I do not appreciate being lied to, Mr. Potter," he said silkily, "So I would advise you not to do it." Harry started shaking. He knew better than to lie to Snape, but he just couldn't…

"Do you have bad dreams, Harry?" Snape suddenly interjected, making the young boy start in his chair and look up at him. "It's alright if you do. I will not ridicule you for it, if that's what you're thinking," Severus said softly.

Harry sighed outwardly this time. There was no use; he knew that Snape would be able to tell he wasn't being truthful if he denied the man's assumption. The young Gryffindor turned his eyes downcast and gave a small affirmative nod.

"I figured," Snape sighed, looking thoughtfully at the boy in front of him. "Now, at this point there are two mistakes you have made. Firstly, I know you are fully aware that no student, unless in emergencies, is to go outside their dormitories at night, much less wander all around the castle. Do you even know how dangerous this castle can be for young, inexperienced students at night?" Harry's head remained down. "Furthermore, am I a fool to think any student having nightmares bad enough that they are kept from normal sleeping patterns would go to Madame Pomfrey for help? Not to mention, disregarding my reputation as the hated potions professor, you could have come to me at least. I do not make habit of mocking first years who come to me for Dreamless Sleep if they are having recurring nightmares."

After Snape was finished Harry still wouldn't look up, so with a light sigh Severus got up and walked around the desk so that he was next to the small boy. Putting Harry's small chin between his fingers, he gently turned the boy's head around so that he was facing him. "Have you taken in what I told you, Potter?" Severus asked. "Yes, sir," Harry replied quietly, finding Snape's dark eyes.

"Very well, then," said Snape as he stood up, guiding the young Gryffindor to his feet as well. "I believe we have a bit more to discuss, but we shall save that for another day- tomorrow, perhaps, since it is the weekend. It's much too late to get started on a different subject tonight. Now, you must get some sleep." As Harry started out the door, Snape put out a hand to stop him. "I will escort you to your tower," Severus stated as he took Harry's shoulder to lead him.

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Once outside Gryffindor tower, Snape turned Harry to face him once more. "If you wish, come down to my office tomorrow afternoon and we'll go and find a spot to have a proper burial for your dog," he said, and saw the young boy's eyes turn up to his hopefully.

"Yes sir, I'd like that. I think Balto would've liked that, too," Harry replied, his eyes suddenly feeling wet. His professor gave his head a nod. "Very well," he stated. "Oh, and Potter," Severus continued quickly, before Harry opened the portrait, "Here is a dose of Dreamless Sleep. It's only enough for one use- if you need any more you can come to me any time," Snape finished, placing a small vial of liquid in Harry's hand and closing his fingers on it.

Before Harry could think twice he threw himself at the Potions Master and locked his arms around the man's waist. "Thank you for everything, Professor," he whispered, his voice a bit muffled by the dense black fabric.

Severus stood there for a moment while his middle was tightly squeezed by two bony arms, then hesitantly wrapped an arm around the small boy and patted his back a bit awkwardly. A second later Harry pulled away, a sheepish smile on his lips.

"Goodnight, Professor. I'll see you tomorrow," Harry called, then was gone behind the portrait. The professor stood in the hall a bit longer, still shell-shocked at what had just happened.

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**A/N: Whew! This was a bit of a hard chapter to write for some reason. I'm really excited for what's in store for my boys! **

**To clear some things up that may be a bit muddy; Sev didn't bring up the subject of Harry's nightmares yet because he figured he'd been through enough stuff emotionally that night. They will talk about it, though. **

**Up next: Harry and Severus bury Balto, then have the second part of their talk. **

**Thanks for reading! And please review, I absolutely love reading them! :)**


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